PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball opens the season on Wednesday night, hosting Rider. The Broncs will make a 40-minute drive up Route 1 from Lawrenceville for the program's lid lifter at Jersey Mike's Arena at 6 p.m. There will be a national television broadcast on Big Ten Network, with a pair of New Jersey residents in Jason Horowitz and Austin Johnson on the call.
Rutgers has a new look roster this season, with just four scholarship players (
Jamichael Davis,
Emmanuel Ogbole,
Dylan Grant and
Bryce Dortch) returning from last season's roster, alongside
Max Fradkin.
Davis enters his third year as a Scarlet Knight. The guard from Tennessee have started 21 of his 63 games On the Banks, averaging 5.1 points with 113 assists and 64 steals, along with 2.3 rebounds.
Ogbole enters his third year at RU, having played 33 games at center, starting 51 of them. Across 381 career minutes he has averaged 2.8 points and 3.2 rebounds, with 15 blocks and 12 steals.
Grant had a breakout midway through his freshman campaign last season. After seeing action in just three of the first 14 games, the Canadian forward went on to play in 21 games with 16 starts. He averaged 5.9 points, with three double-figure outputs highlighted by 19 against Maryland and posted 3.4 rebounds per game.
Dortch showed upside as a RU freshman, playing in 12 games, with 6.4 minutes per game. His season was highlighted by a nine-point performance across 14 minutes against USC in February.
The Scarlet Knights also welcomed three players out of the transfer portal:
Darren Buchanan Jr. (George Washington/Virginia Tech),
Tariq Francis (NJIT) and
Baye Fall (Kansas State/Arkansas).
Buchanan Jr., who redshirted his first season at Virginia Tech, averaged 13.0 points per game and 6.2 rebounds a game across two seasons (61 games, 36 starts) with George Washington in the A-10. He has 43 career games with double-digit points and enters the season with 792 career points.
Francis was a high-volume scorer for the last two seasons, averaging 17.0 points per game for his 54 game career playing with NJIT. He led the America East Conference in scoring at 19.2 points per game last season and enters the season with 918 career points.
Fall, a McDonald's All-American in high school, joins RU after a season apiece at Arkansas and at Kansas State. He saw action in 13 games across his first two collegiate seasons.
Pikiell welcomes the fourth-best recruiting class in the Big Ten Conference and the 30th in the nation in 2025-26.RU welcomes a highly regarded freshman class of
Lino Mark,
Kaden Powers,
Chris Nwuli,
Harun Zrno,
Gevonte Ware,
Dorian Jones and
Denis Badalau.
Chris Nwuli is expected to see immediate playing time in his first season with the Scarlet Knights. A four-star recruit, he was ranked No. 41 nationally by ESPN.com, as well as the No. 24 Power Forward.
The Scarlet Knights also brought in two internationals freshmen in
Denis Badalau out of Romania and
Harun Zrno out of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Denis Badalau comes to the Scarlet Knights after playing last season in Serie A in Italy, seeing action in seven games with Aquila Trento, winning the 2025 Italian National Cup, playing against professionals. He also competed in the 2024-25 EuroCup and the 2024-25 FIBA World Cup, playing with the Romanian National Team, where he earned a gold medal.
Harun Zrno comes to RU as a 21-year old freshman from Bosnia. He played the 2024-25 season at KK Slavija, shooting 56% from the field and averaging 17.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He chose RU over 12 Division I offer, including his original commitment to Indiana.
Buchanan Jr. is a recipient of a 2025 Musial Award, one of the nation's most prestigious honors celebrating class, character, integrity in sports. Buchanan, a Washington, D.C. native, has become known for his efforts to uplift his community through youth engagement and outreach. What began as a simple idea to host a basketball camp in June 2024 has grown into a year-round commitment to service.
"Darren represents everything we value in our program — humility, toughness, and an unselfish commitment to others," said Rutgers head coach
Steve Pikiell. "He's a tremendous teammate and leader, and it's fitting that he's being honored on a national stage for the way he carries himself both on and off the court."
The Scarlet Knights are riding a streak of 79-straight sold-out regular season games at Jersey Mike's Arena over the previous five seasons.
The Scarlet Knights are 79-24 at Jersey Mike's Arena since 2019-20 and 22-9 over the past three years.
"We have the best home court advantage in the country. The fans do a great job. Every game is televised. This arena is jumping every time we play in it. Our league is a national stage. I like home games. I like our fans coming out. We're sold out every game."
Zion Cruz is the leading returning scorer for Rider, averaging 10.1 points per game last season with 16 games in double-figures on his first season with the team after transferring from DePaul and community college. Rider brings back just two of the top eight scorers from last season, with Cruz joined by fellow returning starter Flash Burton (7.6 ppg as a freshman).
Cruz was selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team, while the team was picked 10
th in the preseason coaches poll. Rider brings in 11 new student-athletes, with seven transfers, among them five with previous Division I experience (Cal State Fullerton, USC Upstate, Canisius, Bryant and Maryland-Eastern Shore), along with three freshmen.
The Broncs were in Charlottesville on Monday night to open the season at ACC foe Virginia. The Cavaliers claimed an 87-53 win. Burton led the squad with 17 points, but had six turnovers. Cruz was second on the team with seven points as Rider shot 33% as a team. Rider played an exhibition game against Rowan, winning 76-64, with Burton scoring 20 points and Shemani Fuller posting a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds).
14th-year Head Coach
Kevin Baggett's teams have posted a 206-202 record. Baggett won MAAC Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2018.
The all-time series with Rider dates back to 1947, with RU holding a 16-1 advantage. The Scarlet Knights won the first 12 meetings and the past four. Rider's lone win came in 2007. The Scarlet Knights are 14-1 at home in the series. The Scarlet Knights are Rider last met on November 22, 2022, breaking a 10-year absence in the series. That game was a 76-46 win for RU, with RU under
Steve Pikiell holding the Broncs to 25 percent shooting (15-of-60) and 10.5 percent from long range (2-of-19) while collecting 10 steals and seven blocks.
Rutgers is 8-1 in season openers under
Steve Pikiell, the lone loss coming in 2023-24 against Princeton, but returning to the winning side in last season's opener against Wagner. RU has won 10 of their last 12 season openers.
Rutgers went 3-1 against New Jersey schools last season, defeating St. Peter's, Monmouth and Seton Hall, falling to Princeton. The Scarlet Knights are 16-6 against New Jersey schools under head coach
Steve Pikiell. Rider and Seton Hall are the lone two New Jersey schools on the schedule this year.
Rutgers opens the season with five straight home games at Jersey Mike's Arena. Up next to visit are Maine (Nov. 10), Lehigh (Nov. 14), American (Nov. 18) and Central Connecticut State (Nov. 21). RU will first hit the road around Thanksgiving as it hits the road to Las Vegas for the second year of the Players Era Festival, facing preseason No. 18 Tennessee, Notre Dame, and a third opponent. The team then faces No. 1 Purdue and No. 7 Michigan in the first two Big Ten games, followed by the Garden State Hardwood Classic at Seton Hall.
